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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28800378">Sirius Black and the Late-Night Therapy Session</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainRenegade/pseuds/RainRenegade'>RainRenegade</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hogwarts, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Platonic Relationships, Remus Lupin Needs a Hug, Sirius Black &amp; Remus Lupin Friendship, Sirius Black Needs a Hug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:28:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,780</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28800378</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainRenegade/pseuds/RainRenegade</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Sirius's past blurs into his dreams, it's hard for him to distinguish between his childhood and what's right there in front of him. It's up to Remus to help him get past his fears!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sirius Black &amp; Remus Lupin, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Sirius Black and the Late-Night Therapy Session</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey, guys! Sorry for not posting in a couple weeks; I've been super busy with school back in session. Still, I wanted to give you all this short one-shot. Warning: I wrote this at one in the morning a weekend ago, so I'm sorry if it isn't super coordinated (haha!)! I initially wasn't going to post this, but I had to give you guys something. On another note, I also wanted to give a HUGE thank you to all the views and kudos I've gotten on Tranquility; 20 kudos and 156 hits?! Wow! Anyways... I hope you enjoy my new piece!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <i>The corridor was cold. Unwelcoming. Even though the windows were closed, a chill seemed to linger through the bitter air. It didn’t feel like somewhere Sirius would even be allowed to go. It was certainly nowhere he belonged. <br/>	“Sirius,” his mother’s stern voice chided.<br/>	Sirius scampered into the room she occupied. From what he could see, she was irritated. Her already pale fists were balled into white-knuckled ones, and her cheeks were flushed red. Raven black hair was strewn everywhere in tufts across her head. However, what seemed to frighten Sirius the most was the wand gripped tightly in her right hand. He eyed it cautiously, praying that what he thought was to happen wouldn’t. <br/>	“Why did you speak to that filthy Mudblood child earlier?” <br/>	Sirius gulped. “He needed my help, Mum.”<br/>	Walburga narrowed her eyes. “Don’t talk back to me, child. You forget that you belong to me.”<br/>	Sirius didn’t know what had gone through him when he said it, but it was too late. The words were already tumbling out of his mouth...<br/>	“How do you know he’s a Mudblood, anyways?! The whole problem you and Dad have with it is absolute rubbish!”<br/>	If Walburga was angry before, she was furious now. <br/>	“You disgusting little blood traitor!”<br/>	“Wait, please, I-” <br/>	“CRUCIO!”<br/>	Then Sirius was on the ground, jerking in different directions. White hot light flashed in his vision, temporarily blinding him. An ear-splitting scream erupted from his mouth as he felt each limb in his body crack and pop against their own will. To say it hurt was a complete understatement. But there was nothing he could do about it! He felt trapped, he was… he was…<i><br/>	“NO!” <br/>Sirius clawed at the sheets of his four-poster, sheets thrown off everywhere. <br/>“Mum, stop it, stop it!” <br/>His head pounded. What was going on?<br/>“Please, stop it, Mum! Mum…” <br/>Sirius’s eyes opened with a jolt. Tears raced down his cheeks like rain on a window. He was not at home. He was at Hogwarts, in the Gryffindor fifth-year boys dormitory. Something in his gut told him it was nighttime. He hiccuped, gasping for air, when he realized he hadn’t taken a breath since he’d woken up. <br/>“Sirius?” <br/>Sirius buried his face in his hands.Great. He’d gotten someone else up. Now he’d have to explain what was going on with him, even if he didn’t exactly know himself. <br/>“Sirius, it’s Remus… are you okay?” <br/>“M-moony?” <br/>“Yeah?” <br/>	“G-go back to s-s-sleep…”<br/>	Sirius hated how pathetic his voice sounded. So whiny; as if he were six and not sixteen. <br/>	“You still didn’t answer my question. Is something wrong?” <br/>	Sirius could hear Remus’s voice change from dreary to alert. Oh, no thank you. He was not in the mood for Detective Remus at two in the morning. <br/>	“M’fine, just l-leave m-me alone…” Sirius grumbled, rubbing his eyes. He was afraid to speak again for fear that more tears would bubble up. <br/>	Sirius squinted his eyes. He could now faintly see Remus rummaging around in his bag for something. But what? Oh, hopefully not something bad…<br/> 	Remus’s shadowy figure approached Sirius’s, and he held out an odd-looking rectangle about the size of his hand out at the other boy. It was dark, and only when Remus held it out at him more did Sirius take it. 	<br/>	“Eat this. You’ll feel better.”<br/>	Sirius tentatively bit into one corner of the bar. It was sweet, and almost seemed to melt in his mouth. <br/>	“Chocolate?” he asked quietly.<br/>	Remus nodded, tiptoeing back to his bed. He snatched a book out of his trunk, leaning back onto his mattress and mumbling “Lumos”. The tip of his wand lit up and he flipped the book to the first page, his eyes scanning the words like it would be the last time he ever got to read them. Sirius felt like he should say something, but nothing came out when he opened his mouth. Instead, he bit into the chocolate again, deciding to savor every tooth-rotting morsel. <br/>	Sirius observed Remus silently while he read, watching as his long fingers turned each page delicately. He looked the most serene he had since right after the last full moon. It was comforting to see him in such a calm state. It almost made Sirius want to cry. He bit into the chocolate again. The texture of the food was also comforting. It, strangely enough, did make him feel a little better.<br/>	“Hey, Moony? Do you have dreams?” Sirius blurted out, finishing off the last of his chocolate. Looked like he was hungrier than he thought. <br/>	Remus glanced up from his book, placing his ignited wand down. <br/>	“That depends on what you mean. Are you talking about life goals or the random kind you have at night?” he questioned curiously. <br/>	“Erm, the night ones…” Sirius’s voice trailed off. <br/>	Remus sighed. “Yes, of course. We all do.” <br/>	Sirius ran a hand through his hair. “If you don’t mind me asking, what are your dreams about?” <br/>	Remus fully turned to face Sirius. The light from his wand amplified his eye bags and scars so that Sirius could see Remus without squinting. <br/>	“I dream about what my life could’ve been like without…” he glanced at the other boys in the dormitory warily, “my condition. What do you dream about, Padfoot?” <br/>	Sirius bit his lip, drawing a shaky breath in. “My childhood. My mum and dad, and what they used to do when I was home all the time.” <br/>	Remus furrowed his eyebrows. “Sirius?”<br/>	“Yeah?”<br/>	“What did they do to you at home?” <br/>	Sirius’s hands shook anxiously. <br/>	“None of your business, Moony…”<br/>	“You’re my friend, I’m pretty sure what harms you is my business.”<br/>	“Why are you so nosy? It doesn’t matter, it’s in the past now,” Sirius grumbled. His mannerisms seemed to take on the form of his newly-gained Animagus: a rather intimidating black dog. <br/>	Remus pressed his lips into a thin line. “I just want to know what you’re-”<br/> “Since when did you care so much about what happened in my life, anyways? I thought you were supposed to be better than us, what with your preppy attitude and not,” Sirius snapped, finally driven to his limit. <br/>	Remus turned away, his face slightly annoyed, and…. hurt?<br/>	“Never mind, then. I won’t pester you with questions anymore.”<br/>	Sirius glanced down at the dormitory floor, his feet dangling off the side of the bed. He immediately felt bad for lashing out so quickly.<br/>	“I’m sorry, Remus.”<br/>	Remus cupped his own cheeks in his hands, breathing in and out. <br/>	“No, Sirius, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kept trying to force you to tell me your parental situation. That’s your business.” <br/>	“Yeah, it is…” Sirius started.<br/>	Remus snorted.<br/>	“Waitwaitwait, you didn’t let me finish! What I was TRYING to say was that I appreciate you caring.” <br/>	“Oh… I’m glad.” <br/>	Sirius could swear Remus’s cheeks tinted pink. <br/>	“Anyways… please don’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you, okay? Not even James.” <br/>	Remus paused. “Okay…”<br/>	Sirius shakily began his story; he felt like he owed it to his friend. <br/>	“Well, Reggie and I used to act out against our parents a BUNCH as kids, which, if you’re my parents, that’s not gonna go over well…” he began.<br/>	Remus frowned, engrossed in the story.<br/>	“Every time we fell out of line, they’d punish us,” Sirius continued. <br/>	“When Reggie or I would misbehave, they used to hit us with the……” Sirius couldn’t bring himself to say it. <br/>	Remus gulped. <br/>	“Cruc-cruci-cruciatius Curse,” he finished almost inaudibly, hugging his feet to his chest.<br/>	“Sometimes I had nightmares, but that was mostly when I was little. However… other times… they decide to come b-back…” his voice broke. <br/>	“A-and I don’t know how much I c-can deal with it a-any more…” <br/>	Sirius choked back a sob, eyes filling up with tears again. He wasn’t allowed to cry. That was Mum’s rule. He would surely get punished for earlier. Surely she’d find out, and he’d get in trouble. Ugh, his head still hurt…<br/>	His mind seemed to stop when two arms wrapped around his torso. <br/>	“Hey, Sirius, remember... you’re right here. With me. She can’t come and hurt you as long as I’m right next to you.” <br/>	“Y-you don’t know how powerful of a witch she is, M-moony…” Sirius whispered, sniffling. <br/>	Yet, there was one part of him that wanted to believe Remus. One part of him that trusted his friend. <br/>	Remus plopped down on Sirius’s bed, and suddenly Sirius was acutely aware of how sweaty his comforter and mattress were. The brunette rubbed circles around Sirius’s back gently, swaying back and forth ever-so-slightly. <br/>	“I know it hurts, Sirius. You’ll be okay, okay?”<br/>	“B-but it hurts t-too much, and I can’t g-get past it…” <br/>	Remus looked Sirius in the eyes, blue meeting grey.<br/>	“Yes, you can. You know why?” <br/>	“Why?” <br/>	“Because you’re Sirius Freaking Black. And you can do anything.” <br/>	Sirius buried his face in Remus’s shoulder. He was now aware that his eyes had betrayed him once again. <br/>	“Ugh, Moony, I feel so ugly…” 	<br/>	Remus stroked Sirius’s hair. <br/>	“Trust me, you’re not.”<br/>	“Thanks.”<br/>	“Well, you don’t look absolutely HORRIBLE…”<br/>	“Mooooony!”<br/>	“Just joking! Just joking.”<br/>	The two boys laughed in unison, flopping on their backs onto Sirius’s mattress. Sirius’s eyes finally seemed to regain the sparkle they normally had as he slapped Remus with one of his pillows. Remus’s smile was as wide as could be, but it faded when something seemed to cross his mind.<br/>	“Hey, what’s wrong?” Sirius’s own crooked grin faltered.<br/>	“It’s nothing. Just…” <br/>	Sirius furrowed his eyebrows. “I didn’t pour out my life story just for you to be secretive. C’mon, tell me.”<br/>	Remus bit his lip, sighing.<br/>	“Well, I was already up before you woke up from the dream.” <br/>	Sirius arched a brow. “Really?” <br/>	“Truth is, you’re not the only one who has nightmares. I get them too… except they’re not memories. Most of them involve my condition.”<br/>Remus’s voice lowered to a whisper. <br/>“Tonight… I was trapped in my other form. It destroyed everything. Everything I loved…” <br/>Sirius’s face softened. “Oh, Moony…” <br/>Remus looked away. “But that’s enough for tonight. Good night, Padfoot. See you in the  <br/>morning, or what’s left of it when you get up again.” <br/>Remus edged back over to his bed, whispering “Nox” to his wand and placing his book  <br/>away. <br/>	Sirius cleared his throat. “Remus.”<br/>	“What?”<br/>	“If you feel like you need to talk… you have me.”<br/>	Remus smiled sadly. <br/>	“Thank you, Sirius. Good night.”<br/>	Both boys put their heads on their pillows, one drifting off almost immediately. The other glanced at the sleeping boy, a sad smile still planted on his lips. <br/>	“Sleep well, Padfoot.”</i></i>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey, there! My last note was a little long, so I'll try to be concise here! Thank you for reading my story. It brings me joy just getting the opportunity to share my writing! Love you all, and bye!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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